Daily Handy Tips

Archive for May, 2009

Electric cookers can be said to be one of the greatest innovations ever to grace the kitchens of modern homes. This is because in medieval times, people used to use coal, fire and rudimentary cooking stoves to prepare food and warm the house. These are still used in some parts of the world where modern civilization has yet to find a foothold. Today homes use mostly a combination of coal, electric cookers and gas cookers although electric cookers and gas cookers are predominant.

Gas cookers are more or less found in homes while electric cookers are usually found in apartment homes and condominiums. This is true in the United States but in other parts of the world the opposite may be true. It is not uncommon especially in the Third World countries to find people purchasing a gas stove which has a portable gas container which can be refilled when the gas is depleted. In the West, these portable stoves still exist but they are mostly used for outdoor activities like picnics or backyard barbecues which are common during the summer. Let us examine some basics about electric cookers and also see why they are popular.

Electric cookers usually come in a one freestanding stove that has four electric coils. The mechanism that drives them is simple. The coil is attached to a metal plate that is in turn connected to an electric cable. When you turn the knob to light the cooker, electrons bombard the steel plate that is attached to the coil and because of the resistance, heat is generated. As more electrons continue to hit the plate, the coil gets hotter and hotter until it is red hot and sometimes white hot. At this juncture it is ready to be used to cook or warm whatever is needed. The cooker comes with the ability to adjust the level of heat and this is ideal because not everything requires the same amount of heat to prepare.

The electric cooker also comes with an in-built oven which is usually situated right under the top of the countertop, usually metallic, where the coils are embedded. The oven works much in the same way as the coils work. There are differently-shaped coils which also when heated in turn heat the air inside the oven. The oven works best when it is closed and the heat inside can also be regulated to fit whatever is being cooked or broiled.

Electric cookers are generally cheaper to buy because the technology involved in creating them is rudimentary. They are also advantageous because there is a very low risk of fire and some are even created to cut off power if water spills on them or something is forgotten on the stoves. Modern innovations in electric cooker design has also seen what we call as Induction cookers which have a specialized coil which only heats up when in contact with a surface. This was created because wit the previous cookers, someone could easily and accidentally touch the coil and be seriously burnt.

Chestnut Tree

Local business man sampled his first Chinese chestnut at a produce dealers booth. He purchased 5 pounds and said, “I am buying these for my father. He never got over the loss of the native chestnut and these are the first Ive found with the oldtime flavor.”

This incident probably better illustrates the nostalgia of an old man rather than the worth of the Chinese chestnut but it does give an appraisal of its flavor by one who knows.

The destruction of the American chestnut, Castanea dentata, by an oriental chestnut bark disease is an old story that need not be repeated here for this article deals with two species which can be grown in this country in spite of the blight.

These two exotic species which are now also being crossed with the native chestnut to develop new varieties are the Chinese Castanea mollissima and the Japanese Castanea crenata. Both have a high degree of resistance to the blight having been exposed to it for unknown centuries in their native lands.

My own personal experience with these began about 1928 when I secured a small quantity of seed from the government planting at Glen Dale, Maryland. My efforts have been in the direction of nut production rather than timber as this seemed to offer more promise of immediate reward.

Practically the first thing I learned about chestnuts was that the species cross-pollenize and hybridize about as readily as pop corn with field corn. The offspring of that seed were an interesting lot of hybrids.

One bore nuts the third year; another, very vigorous, never bore more than a few nuts and those only after many years; a vigorous, upright tree ripened large, glossy nuts in August; a small, shrubby specimen insisted on blooming from June to frost, setting abundant clusters of burs that produced very small nuts. This was probably a hybrid of the Chinese chinkapin, C. seguini. Thus, I learned the importance of planting pure strains.

Both the Chinese and Japanese chestnuts are trees of moderate growth and size but more spreading than the American species. Neither is as winter-hardy as the American. Both will grow wherever peaches are hardy.

Neither is particular as to soil as long as it is reasonably fertile and well drained. As a safeguard against late spring frosts, air drainage is important but on the whole, the climate, soil, site and culture suitable for peaches suits the oriental chestnuts fine.

With me, the Japanese has been more precocious and prolific and has generally produced larger nuts. Select strains developed in Japan have nuts more than 2 inches across”the largest known. In contrast to the select strains, seed of a shrubby wild chestnut I imported from Japan produced very small nuts with some plants maturing nuts when only knee high and 18 months old. The Chinese, however, has proven to be the more vigorous and blight resistant of the two and to have higher quality nuts.

At the present time, the Chinese species is considered to be the more desirable for both home and commercial plantings. In the South the trees grow more rapidly and are larger than in the North and so should be planted spaced not less than 40 feet apart.

Seedling trees vary widely in precocity, productiveness and size and quality of nuts. Under favorable conditions of culture, seedlings of good parentage have been known to produce an average of 40 pounds of nuts per tree at ten years from setting. Select trees, in some cases, have produced more than twice that amount.

Out of the thousands of seedling trees distributed by the Department of Agriculture and set out in small plantings throughout the eastern part of the United States, some selections have been made and a few have been given variety names and are being propagated by grafting and budding.

Among the named varieties selected from government plots are Meiling, Kuling and Nanking. Those selected from private plantings are Abundance, Hemming and Hobson. These may be expected to be superior to average seedlings in productiveness, early bearing and size and quality of nuts.

Under good conditions Chinese chestnuts are very regular bearers. Hobson, a medium sized nut of good quality, usually bears for me the second year after grafting if left undisturbed in the nursery row. A tree on my home grounds, top-worked in 1932 to the Hobson variety, has borne 16 consecutive crops. A nearby tree of the same age, of the Carr variety, however, has failed twice during the same period due to late spring frosts.

A tree usually ripens its crop in about one week but individual differences in trees extend the harvesting period over a month or more. In Georgia, harvest begins in August. In the north, it may extend to October.

Ripe nuts generally fall free from the spiny burs. Those of the Chinese species average somewhat larger than those of the American but not as large as the European and Japanese. Color varies from a bright mahogany red to a dull gray or brown.

With all the chestnuts the kernel is covered with a skin or pellicle which carries a bitter and indigestible substance known as tannin. In the American and Japanese chestnut this pellicle adheres closely to the kernel and is very difficult to remove.

In the best selection of the Chinese, however, the pellicle separates freely from the kernel leaving it clean, bright and free from bitterness. This characteristic, coupled with the sweetness and texture equal to the American species, makes the Chinese the best of all chestnuts for culinary purposes.

Today prospective chestnut planters have little to fear from blight. Ten years ago, I had a Hobson, Carr and a number of seedling trees tested for blight resistance by having cultures of Endothia parasitica, prepared by the U. S. Division of Forest Pathology, injected beneath the bark. No infection resulted except in a few seedlings. Most of those infected recovered”only one or two died.

The other great pest of theAmerican chestnut was the weevil that infested the nuts soon after they ripened. Where present, this weevil also attacks the Chinese species. Almost perfect control of this pest has been achieved, however, by thorough spraying of bearing trees. Spraying should begin six weeks before the ripening of the earliest nuts and be continued at two week intervals until harvest.

The only hazard commercial growers have to face is competition offered by the European species. But since in the East, the home grown crops can be placed on the market a month ahead of the European whether grown abroad or on the Pacific coast, there is little to fear from such competition.

This is attested to by the fact that local dealers eagerly took my crop at the wholesale price of 35 cents a pound. Later, in November, European chestnuts were being offered on the local market at 20 cents a pound retail!

Moreover, the chestnut blight has invaded Italy and threatens all of Europe. Castanea sativa, the European species, is fully as susceptible to the blight as was the American. Whatever the outcome, it would seem as if importation of European chestnuts faces curtailment in the coming years.

As an orchard crop the Chinese chestnut undoubtedly has a future in this country though it must be admitted that it is still in the Johnny Appleseed stage. Some commercial plantings have been made in Georgia and a few as far north as Erie, Pennsylvania, where the lake somewhat tempers the winter climate.

Many general nurseries are now offering seedling trees like flowering fruit trees although named varieties of grafted trees are, as yet, available only in limited quantities from nurseries specializing in nut trees.

As more are made available, the home owner will get them. Wherever the peach survives the winter, he can enjoy his own fruitful “spreading chestnut tree” within a few years from planting. He will probably have two or more for chestnuts are self-sterile and more than one seedling is needed for cross pollination.

With plenty of room and left to itself, the Chinese chestnut assumes something of the size and form of a large apple tree and is as inviting to children to climb in. It makes a pleasing shade tree that is very decorative on the home grounds. It is lovely in late spring when the feathery tassels of blossoms appear, beautiful all summer and interesting in fall when loaded with burs.

Beauty salon business is sprouting everywhere. It is not surprising that many people are engaging on this type business nowadays because starting a beauty salon has minimum requirements. Putting up a beauty salon or a spa treatment facility focuses on finding a suitable place and setting up efficient beauty equipments. Choosing the right location is very easy. You may lease a studio-type floor space or set it up on the comfort of your home. The latter is much more used as of today. Opening a salon on your house gives you the relief of not having to pay your monthly rent for the salon.

The expenses of a home-based salon are also much lower than the one located on a rented space. This allows you to offer more pleasing discounts to customers without compromising your profits. Once the site for your salon is resolved, the next problem you may encounter is finding the right beauty equipments to be purchased. Browsing for beauty equipments posted on online sites such as eBay is highly recommended. These websites allows you to pick from a wide range of sellers that offer various discounts. The integrity of the online purchase can be secured by an Escrow service. An Escrow service is a third party company that ensures the satisfaction of the parties involved on the purchase. It is commonly used today to secure online transactions are between anonymous people.

Having professional and brand new equipments can be a plus to your newly opened salon. But what if you can’t afford to buy a new one? The solution to this problem is to purchase used equipments. Other beauty salons often sell their used equipments at a price much lower than the normal cost. There are also used beauty equipments available on online advertisements on the Internet. There are websites dedicated on selling beauty salon equipments if you really want to buy high quality equipments. Purchasing professional beauty salon equipments may require you to use a huge amount of money. You can look for banks that offer portfolios of business loans for starting small-scale entrepreneurs. You can also inquire for other sources such as resellers of used beauty salon equipments. Branded beauty salon equipments may be sold by these dealers for a discounted price compared with the retail cost.

You can also search online or the local newspaper for incoming government auctions. Commodities from establishments that are foreclosed or reclaimed are considered as government’s properties. The accumulated equipments are sold to the community through a public bidding. These equipments are offered to bidders at a very low price. Looking for beauty salon equipments within these auctions is highly recommended.

Other beauty salon owners may want to sell their old equipment. There are many beauty salon equipments that are sold by other beauty salons due to lack of available space or they are gathering funds to buy much better equipment. All of these are options that you may choose from to purchase the beauty salon equipment you need on your planned beauty salon. You can also use other alternative solutions to gather the beauty salon equipments until you are ready to start the business.

When it comes to choosing a screen, the first consideration is the type of screen you want or even need. If the room where you are setting up your home theater is large, then you will have to have a home theater projection screen or maybe you just want one anyway.

Personally, I like the idea of having a drop-down screen, but sometimes you have to have one anyway even in a modest-sized home movie theater. It would convert your living room into a home movie theater at the click of a remote. Imagine: you lie back in your chair; click the remote and the screen drops down; click another time and the lights dim; click another again and the film begins!

However, if you prefer a television screen, then you might consider buying a new one. They say that a 27 inch screen is big enough, but I do not think it is. I really think you need 48-60 inches, but then I am a baby-boomer and my eyes are definitely not what they used to be.

If you are purchasing a new TV for your home movie theater, I think you should get the latest model. HDTV is already here and since February 2009 the USA has been committed to High Definition. So, I would make sure that your new television is capable of receiving it. Then I suggest that the new home movie theater screen is a flat one in order to reduce the annoying reflections that could ruin the experience, which could be another reason for opting for a projection screen.

Then you should make sure that the new television has enough input and output plugs for the equipment you have in mind and you’re ready. So, to summarize, I would go for:

At least a 27 inch screen

A flat screen

HDTV compatibility

Sufficient input and output sockets

Satellite compliant

I recommend satellite compatibility because it is probably the future or near future at least. If you get a satellite TV connection you will have access to HDTV downloads which you can watch whenever you like.

Of all the achievements you could ever gain, perhaps the most powerfully rewarding is the achievement of a degree. A college or post graduate degree can open career doors, improve income, expand your horizons, and grant you a better future in ways few other things can accomplish. Once such a degree was the prerogative of a privileged few. Now, thanks to online education, more and more people can obtain the benefits of advanced education and can gain online degrees.

Whether you want to go into nursing, psychiatry, or business, there are online degrees for everyone. Traditional universities have begun offering some degrees in their online educational programs, and as for the array of programs designed to be entirely online? Amazing. It seems as though whatever you dream, someone can help you attain that dream.

How does anyone get an online education? It is simple! Just Googling for education in your area of interest is a good start: you are likely to turn up a wide array of programs that easily. Once you have found a few providers who interest you then you can proceed. Filling out a form, sending an email, or calling an 800 number will put you in contact with advisors who will be delighted to help you work out a reasonable plan to achieve whatever online degree you have in mind.

If you are worried about financing you should know that most of the traditional methods of educational finance are available to online students: loans, grants, scholarships and employer-backed continuing education programs have all been used to help defray the costs of getting an online education. In some, if not all instances the costs of getting your online degrees will be lower than the cost of comparable degrees from a traditional college or university, also — not because the value of the degree is lower, but because the cost of maintaining campus, on-site faculty and staff, and other overhead costs are so reduced for online providers.

Most adults find online education a perfect choice in terms of scheduling. With the flexibility to allow you to sort your daily class schedule to match your daily obligations, and with no commute or obligatory in-class time, you will find you are free to work on a fluid basis. Taking part in class discussions is much like posting to a social forum. With the ability to turn in homework, papers, and take tests online you will find that getting degrees online is much less demanding of your scheduling genius than it would otherwise be.

For most of history people had no real choice what they would do with their lives. A man or woman was born to the plow or the craft bench, and from late childhood to the grave a person could spend forty years doing little more than swinging a hammer or guiding a plow. Now, however, thanks to the great availability of online education you can make your own choices about your future: nursing or law, accounting or business, all are open to you, just for bothering to get the appropriate online degrees.